I visited The Hepworth back at the start of November to see the Hannah Starkey: In Real Life exhibition that was (and, at the time I write this, still is) present in the gallery. The exhibition was good – Hannah Starkey isn’t a photographer I’ve followed particularly – much of her work takes the form of staged portraits designed to depict candid scenes of women going about their lives – but I always tend to find such exhibitions interesting and inspiring, even if the work is not something that would be my first choice of style. Seeing the huge prints in the gallery environment was a great experience.
I took my Yashicamat 124G with me on the visit in the event I might find some things to photograph while I was there, and the posts for the coming days will feature some of the results. Today’s two pictures were made inside The Hepworth gallery, though not in the confines of the Starkey exhibition.
I’ve noticed over the past year or so that my Yashica tends to flare in certain conditions – a diffuse veil flare that reduces contrast, turning deep blacks to greys. Closer inspection of the taking lens reveals that there is haze present, so I need to try and get that fixed. I’ve looked online and it appears to be a reasonably simple job to remove and clean the taking lens, although not without risk of my cack-handedly breaking the camera in some way. To this end I’ve bought a lens spanner and will attempt to effect a repair this weekend. Wish me luck!
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 5 November 2022.
Steel City Snapper photography 
Interestingly, lens haze, if it’s not too severe, oftentimes produces a very pleasing aesthetic in its own right. Of course, that’s obviously subjective, and it’s never something I *want* to happen with my lenses. But I actually like the reduced contrast and creamy greys that often result from lenses with minor haze. It gives things a very vintage look, very similar to what older emulsions that lacked proper anti-halation looked like.
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I guess it’s a little like using a Pro-Mist filter or something along those lines. Sadly it isn’t controllable in my case.
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I hope your repair effort goes well!
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Thanks P. So do I!
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